1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to denture making apparatus; and, more particularly, to apparatus for relating a cast of a denture to a proposed occlusal plane.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices are known in the art for forming casts of dentures. Generally speaking, such devices merely form a cast of a denture without taking into consideration the occlusal plane of the patient. A considerable amount of manual work must be made in order to reproduce a denture having the patient's exact measurements. Reference must be made back to the patient. Thus, such prior art techniques involve considerable trial and error and reference back to the patient to see if the dentures being reproduced are proper. Also, such prior art devices do not provide for means for changing the orientation of a denture being reproduced so as to make new dentures having different dimensional relationships.
There thus is a need for apparatus that can be used to reproduce dentures for a patient taking into consideration the patient's jaw measurements, including the occlusal plane of the patient.